All Saints Church, Mixbury
All Saints Church in Mixbury is a stone structure comprising a nave, chancel, north aisle, western tower, and south porch. The building dates from the 12th century, but the only Romanesque feature left is the south door. Repairs in 1842 to 'one of the chancel windows' revealed the head of a circular window carved with chevrons after the style of the south doorway. There was considerable rebuilding in the early 14th century. New windows were inserted in the north, east, and south walls of the chancel. The east window of three lights with Geometrical tracery is a good example of the period, and was once decorated with medieval coats of arms in stained glass, which were noted by Rawlinson in about 1718. In addition, a tower of three stages, with a battlemented parapet and gargoyles, and having a west doorway, was erected and remains unaltered; an arcade of three arches supported on octagonal pillars and an aisle were built on the north side of the nave; windows were inserted in the south wall of the nave. The north wall of the aisle was decorated with a wall painting. A clerestory, lighted by three two-light windows on either side, was added. In the 17th century many changes were made to the fabric. In 1630 a storm blew in one of the windows, and in the next few years repairs were executed for which a special rate was levied. In 1662 another storm did further damage. At some time during the century the south wall of the chancel was rebuilt, although the 14th-century windows were preserved; a roof of very low pitch was put over nave and chancel; and a large south porch was added, rising to the middle of the clerestory. At the end of the century a Latin inscription was placed in the chancel commemorating the successful struggle over poor rates with the hamlets of Willaston and Fulwell and the restoration of the church. It ran 'in memoriam . . . templi insuper primaevi redditi elegantiae utinam et pietati quarum alteram perennet alteram provehat Deus. P.W.F. 1696'. Although declared to be in a state of 'sufficient repair' in 1761, this was no longer the case 50 years later. The rector, W.J. Palmer, began by removing in 1807–8 the old pews and inserting new and additional oak ones, and the churchwardens reported that he was 'making alteration' to the church. In 1843 he restored the chancel; and it is likely that it was at this date that the Romanesque chancel arch was rebuilt. He also proposed to make extensive repairs to the rest of the fabric, and to remove the old screen between the belfry and the nave, making it 'good in a handsome way', on certain conditions which the vestry refused to accept. In 1848, on receipt of a letter from the bishop concerning the repair of the church, the vestry at last agreed to do what was legally necessary. George Wyatt, builder, of Oxford, reported that the south wall was so much 'bulged and shaken' that it ought to be rebuilt; that the dressings of the door and windows and the string course could be mostly reused; that the upper portion of the north wall up to the clerestory windows should be rebuilt; and that the roof should be retimbered with oak and releaded with new lead. His estimate, which included replastering the interior and renewing the roof corbels in Bath stone, amounted to £402. The rector offered to meet the bill if the vestry would agree to a repayment of £280 raised by rates levied in the years 1849–51. His offer was finally accepted and the work was put in hand. At this time also the south porch was rebuilt on a smaller scale in the Romanesque style. The dates of the construction and removal of the west gallery are not known. The elaborate restoration, especially of the chancel, with the installation of a new carved altar, stained glass, tiles, panelling, the Lord's Prayer and Creed framed in Gothic stonework, and other furniture, is of interest, as it was the earliest work of the kind undertaken in the Bicester deanery. Palmer's object, in his own words, was 'to restore the older character of the church, and get rid as much as possible of that of the period of the last repair'. Various other additions, including an organ, candlesticks and lamps, stained-glass windows, the gift of Lord Selborne, and an alabaster pulpit given by Archdeacon Palmer, were made later. The font also belongs to this period. The incised slab to Sir John Wellesborne (d. 1548) and his wife, showing the full-length figures of themselves and two daughters, which Rawlinson noted in the chancel, has disappeared except for some small fragments now embedded in the floor of the nave; it was probably destroyed during the 19thcentury restoration, since Skelton mentions it as greatly obliterated in 1823. There is a floor slab to Wellesborne Sill (d. 1706/7), a tablet to Benjamin Bathurst (d. 1767) and his widow, and tablets commemorating the donors of charities: Stephen Painter, Simon Rogers, Anne Rogers, and the Revd. W. J. Palmer. The inscription to Timothy Hart, rector (d. 1666), and various inscriptions to 17th-century members of the Sill family, noted by Rawlinson in about 1718, cannot now be traced. Painted records of charitable gifts dating from 1639 to 1711 are on the west wall. Mixbury is unusually rich in inventories of church goods. There are lists for 1552, 1662, 1757, and 1884, and W. J. Palmer noted the communion plate in 1805. The plate now (1956) includes two silver chalices with paten covers, inscribed respectively with the names of Thomas Rus, rector, 1681, and W. J. P[almer], rector, 1847; and a silver alms plate, hall-marked 1682, inscribed Ecclesia de Mixbury 1716 and bearing the Glover arms. There are also a heavy pewter flagon (c. 1699), two pewter plates, both 18th century, and another flagon inscribed '1847, W. J. P[almer]'. In 1552 there had been a parcel-gilt chalice. In 1552 there were two bells, a sanctus bell, and two hand bells. In 1956 there was a ring of three bells hanging in a 17th-century oak frame. John Wellesborne gave the tenor, inscribed 'God save King James, 1609', and his grandson gave the second, inscribed 'God save King Charles, 1627'. In addition to the goods listed in the inventories, the church owned, in the mid-16th century, two cows and some sheep, given by John Hogges and Joan Gloucester, widow, to pay a priest to keep their obits. The registers begin in 1645, and the first volume contains notes on church customs made by Timothy Hart in the 1660's. There is also a manuscript history of the parish and church compiled in 1851–2 by the rector W.J. Palmer. There are later additions ending in 1948. Historical information about All Saints Church is provided by 'Parishes: Mixbury', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 6, ed. Mary D Lobel (London, 1959), pp. 251-262. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol6/pp251-262 [accessed 19 February 2023]. St. Michael's Church is a Grade II* listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS, Mixbury - 1192977 | Historic England For more information about St. Michael's Church see Parishes: Mixbury | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk). |
